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Guardian Protection Services acquires Ranger American's Operations in Six Markets

WARRENDALE, PA – May 21, 2008– Guardian Protection Services, Inc. is pleased to announce the acquisition of Ranger American's Texas-headquartered operations. This represents Guardian's second Ranger American acquisition in six months. The purchase expands Guardian's geographic footprint to include Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, and further increases Guardian's penetration in its existing Charlotte, Indianapolis and Phoenix markets.

Ranger American is the largest provider of home technology solutions in Texas with a substantial number of well-developed builder relationships. Throughout its 10-year history, Ranger American consistently alternated between strong first and second place positions among ADT's largest dealers. The purchase will add 15,000 rooftop opportunities per year to Guardian's production within its product lines of installed home security, structured wiring, distributed audio and other home technologies. The acquisition will also add 175 active builder partners and approximately 600 new Guardian employees, bringing Guardian's total employees to more than 1,600.

Texas hasn't been affected by the downturn in the housing market in the same way that other major U.S. markets have been affected and Russell Cersosimo, Guardian's chief executive officer, sees the potential for growth. "When the timing is appropriate, I strongly believe the Texas acquisition will put us in a position to capitalize on the new construction industry," Cersosimo said.

"Ron Bowden, founder and former CEO of Ranger American, has established a solid foundation for the company and will remain on board in a leadership role to focus on expanding the Texas operation," Cersosimo explained. "We’re looking forward to merging all of Ranger's remarkable talent pool with our Guardian team."

Guardian expects its centralized infrastructure, sophisticated systems, and marketing capabilities to combine well with Ranger American's experience and existing builder relationships. The acquisition adds significant account volume and expands Guardian's footprint in a manner consistent with its goals of creating high-quality, internally-generated monitored accounts. Guardian expects the acquisition alone to increase new sales revenue by $12 million.

"We're very confident after the Ranger Florida acquisition. It was seamless with no disruption in sales or operations and all builder relationships remained intact," Cersosimo said. "This is a very exciting opportunity. Acquiring Ranger American is a strategic move for the Guardian business plan to expand our footprint as a super-regional company."

About Guardian Protection Services

Guardian designs, installs and monitors residential and commercial security systems and currently protects approximately 200,000 customers. With the addition of the Ranger Texas acquisition, Guardian Home Technologies division markets to approximately 500 builders throughout the U.S. and provides structured wiring installations that create an infrastructure for advanced home technologies in new home construction, including shared use of the Internet and home/office networking, distributed audio, home theatre, flat screen TV, intercom, and central vac.

Guardian Protection Services is one of the Armstrong Group of Companies. Guardian reported gross revenues of approximately $120 million in 2007. Headquartered 20 miles north of Pittsburgh in Warrendale, Pa., Guardian provides 24-hour monitoring throughout the United States. Guardian sells and installs in 15 states with 18 corporately-owned offices located in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Guardian has an authorized dealer program that parallels this coverage and expands it into Connecticut, Michigan and New York. The Ranger American acquisition brings the total number of Guardian corporately-owned offices to 24.

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For more information

Please contact Russell Cersosimo, Chief Executive Officer, at (412) 818-5815.

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